Tax aid considered for disaster-destroyed homes

DENVER — Colorado residents who lost their homes in last year’s floods and wildfires still have to pay property taxes, but state lawmakers are trying to change that law.

A bill being heard in a House committee Wednesday would give homeowners whose homes were destroyed a tax credit to cover their property tax bill after they pay it, but the bill is likely to be amended.

Some lawmakers who support the idea of a tax break have said they don’t think the homeowners should get a property tax bill in the first place.

Legislative analysts have estimated the tax relief would cost the state $2.2 million.

To qualify for the tax credit, a homeowner’s property would have to be deemed a total loss.

The September floods damaged parts of northern Colorado, starting in the foothills and spreading onto the plains. Nearly 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Summer wildfires also ravaged the state. The Black Forest Fire in El Paso County alone destroyed nearly 500 homes, the most ever in state history.

Democratic Rep. Jonathan Singer, who represents Lyons, one of the town’s hit hardest by the floods, said the goal of the legislation is to provide help to affected homeowners, and not add insult to injury by requiring taxes on property that no longer exists.